Students at Ryan Family Auditorium at the Technical Institute traded laptop cases for makeup cases Tuesday at a beauty event sponsored by Marie Claire magazine and Yasmin birth control. Marie Claire planned the program for Northwestern sorority women and might bring other versions of the event to area universities, said Vildia Samaniego, the executive director of marketing.
“Northwestern was our very first choice because it represents the type of woman that Marie Claire targets. The sorority women at Northwestern are socially conscious and also very smart. They have style and substance.”
Although many sororities got flyers in their mailboxes or e-mails about the event, attendance was slim. About 50 women trickled in and out of the program during its first hour. Some students who stopped just happened to be passing through Tech before or after class.
“I’m sad that not many people came,” said Medill freshman Sara Gaynes, who attended the event briefly and picked up a goody bag of products. “It was informative, but this was a rough time to hold it because a lot of people are really busy.”
Samaniego said the focus of the event was to address “individual beauty challenges” and ways for women to take proper care of their bodies — such as by drinking six to eight glasses of water a day.
Attendees were asked to answer a question from Yasmin regarding birth control concerns and registered to win one of five door prizes. The first few girls were also selected to receive free makeovers.
“We want to stress that beauty on the inside is just as important as beauty on the outside,” Samaniego said. “For example, it’s important to know the ingredients’ of your products and to make sure you’re feeding your body the correct things.”
Karen Robinovitz, author of “The Fashionista Files” and a Marie Claire contributing editor, spoke about the beauty concerns of college-age women, such as dark circles from lack of sleep. Her beauty tips included a warning against buying cheaper brands of foundation because it is harder to match skin tone correctly.
The keynote speaker also advocated maintaining a positive self-image.
“If you get one pimple, you think it’s this huge, awful atrocity, when other people would never have noticed it,” Robinovitz said. “Imagine what those thoughts do to your physical and emotional makeup.”
Every audience member left with a goody bag containing lip gloss, a promotional CD, information about Yasmin birth control and the June issue of Marie Claire.
Medill senior Tiffany Pendleton said she heard about the program through her sorority president and decided to attend because she wanted to get tips for different makeup styles.
“There’s always such an emphasis on image, but a lot of girls have a hard time putting all the pieces together,” Pendleton said.
Reach Kristyn Schiavone at [email protected].
